First days in Incheon

Yesterday was awesome!! I didn't write on this blog because it wasn't working in the airport so I was going to try and mess with the settings to get it to work, and then I logged on today and it worked!! The director of international affairs, Dr. Joon Choi, introduced himself as Joon, which comes between May and July and I thought that was hilarious. He let us sleep in and came and got us from the hotel at about 11:30. I don't think I've ever had a better shower or bed before (but that was after 48 hours of hardly any sleep and feeling gross). We went to a seafood market where I saw every type of fish, squid, clams, oysters, etc. for sell. The setup reminded me of a flea market or the market in Charleston. Everyone was trying to get our attention but I couldn't understand what they were saying. A girl that is coming to Lander for a year, EunJi, came with us. We then went and ate at a little restaurant near the market. It was a table that had a grill in the middle of it. They would put oysters, clams, conchs, and other "sea shells" on the grill and let it cook then we ate it. I have never eaten any of this stuff and I liked the flavor of it, but not the texture. But I was impressed with myself that I ate everything and never gagged once. :)

Then EunJi took us to a underground shopping mall. It was huge!!! It had stores for clothes, makeup, cell phones, shoes, bags, jewelry, and everything else imaginable in these little stores!!! I tried to go to a ATM to get money but they didn't take foreign cards, so I'm going to have to wait and get some from a bank later. Then for supper last night, we went to a restaurant and ate more traditional Korean food. There is a food called kimchi, which is fermented cabbage, and Koreans eat this in one form for every meal. It can be a sauce, a soup, or to eat with lettuce (like a sandwhich between lettuce leaves). I don't particularly care for this but it is something I can eat with a straight face. They also served us shots of soju, the Korean vodka. He ordered one bottle but kept giving it to us until we finished 4 bottles!!!

We then went to a karaoke bar. It was the four Americans, Dr. Choi, EunJi, and another student names Wanseo. This is a lot different than I imagined it. We went into a room that had a tv, two microphones, and two tamborines, and we took turns choosing and singing songs. There was no one else in the room except for us, so we could sing and not be embarrassed by how bad we sounded.

Today, we went on a tour of Incheon University. This university has only been in its current location for about two years so everything is modern looking and very clean. The campus is a rectangle shape and the buildings are on the edges and the middle is sidewalks and a few trees. It is raining season in Korea right now so it's always either raining or cloudy, so we went up in the sky deck to see all the buildings. Each of us has a Korean buddy, and they explained all the buildings and about the Korean culture. We learned about Korean universities and other Korean things and we would then explain how it is different of similar in the US. They were either international trade or business majors that have either studied abroad in the US or are about to.

We then met the president of UI, Dr. Ahn, and he was very excited about being a sister university with Lander and hopes a lot of students come there to study. If I wasn't about to graduate, I would go in a heartbeat. Everyone is so nice and welcoming and it is a wonderful campus and city. Incheon is the third largest city in South Korea (after Seoul and Busan). The tallest building in Korea is right outside our hotel room window and we crossed the 6th longest bridge going from the airport to the hotel (it was 24 kilometers!!). I'm still getting used to the food and the language seems impossible to learn but I love everything else about here.

We then went for a Korean cultural event. We made rice cakes and decorated them with a sweetish icing-type stuff. It was about the size of a cupcake and we decorated it by flattening the "icing" (but it wasn't really sweet). We then cut three circles out and rolled it up and then cut it in half with chopsticks and it became a rose. We then learned the traditional Korean tea ceremony. I don't like green tea but it was fun learning how to make and serve it. Then we dressed up in traditional Korean outfits. Mine was a light pink dress with a dark pink jacket. Wanseo wore light blue pants, a pink shirt, and then a light blue robe. The hats for the men were hilarious. One of the hats had wings and the other was a hat with a rim made out of wire. I also got to play the large gong (I'm thinking of Mulan as I write this.). Then I guess Dr. Choi felt bad for us because we ate hamburgers for supper.

I am still jet lagged. It is about 7pm at night and I have been ready to go to sleep for a few hours. I am waking up at about 5 every morning then sleeping lightly until we have to get up. It isn't helping that it is so dark outside because it's always cloudy. It's supposed to be sunny tomorrow and I'm glad because we are going to an island to play on the beach.

Tokyo

I slept in an airport, hopefully the only time I'll have to do that. Since we got in so late last night, the metro had stopped so we had to wait to change airports for this morning. We flew into Haneda in the south part of Tokyo and our next flight leaves from Narida, in the north part of Tokyo. We took the metro up here and left at 6am, which wasn't bad because we had already been up for hours. (I only slept about 2 hours that was my "nap time" back in SC.)

On the metro ride here, we were above ground for the first and last parts so I got to see a lot of Tokyo from a distance. The buildings are tall and its about one on top of the other. They aren't what you would consider pretty because some are old, and some are newer and its a really random combination. Some of the houses have roofs that remind me of half of a clay pot. I saw, i don't know what the correct term would be, but gardens of rice everywhere that were in water. I also saw two cemeteries that were small and the tombstones were tall and skinny and the are that they were in was really small also.

Everything here is written in four languages: Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and English and about every person we need to ask for help or directions (which has happened quite often so far) speaks enough English to help us. I'm worried about them understanding us because of our southern accent but they seem to be able to fine.

Of course we had to eat McDonalds for lunch for one last meal before flying to Korea. I know, not very original but the choices were that and sushi so you know which one won ;)

I'm having a fun time so far, not as boring as it might sound. I'm getting to know the other girls I am with, which is a good thing because we are spending the next 5 weeks together 24/7 so I need to know them before the total immersion. Next time I write, I'll be in Incheon, South Korea :) and I'm so excited to finally get there so I can shower and go to sleep for a few hours.

In the airport

Currently, I am in Tokyo, Japan for a 18 hour layover before flying out to Incheon, South Korea. Right now it is 1am but my body thinks it is noon so the next few days should be interesting with the time change and jet lag. On the long flight over the pond, I watched several movies, listened to movies, played a few games, talked, ate two meals, and slept as much as I could (which wasn't enough at all). We have to change airports and take a 2 hour metro to the other airport in Tokyo where we will hang out until we fly out. The three others girls I am with are awesome and we will either become best friends or drive each other insane before we leave in 5 weeks. I hope its the fist choice :)

Leaving for Korea

I just finished packing for my trip to South Korea. I am going with 3 other girls from Lander University as a beginning to Lander's Asia Initiative. We are going to be traveling in Incheon and Busan, South Korea and will be there for a total of 5 weeks. I am so excited to be going because I never dreamed I would get to do study aboad, much less 2 opportunities in 2 different continents!!! I hope to do better with my blogging than I did when I was in Spain.

The things I am worried about most are the food and the language. Dr. Park, the Asian study abroad director at Lander, and his wife cooked for the students and a few others from Lander a couple of weeks ago. It was delicious but not the type of food I eat every day. I am not a picky eater, and I will try all types of foods, but eating different types of food is going to be something that will definitely be something to get used to. Most of the people I will be in contact with in Korea will speak English, but I am still going to learn as much of the language as I can in the weeks I am there. Hopefully, I will pick it up easily, but if not, I can always learn more when I get back to SC.

Three people from the second university we are staying at came to Lander on Monday to visit and sign formal contracts as sister univerisities. Jane Na will be in charge of all the international students, so this was a great opportunity to meet her and go through orientation. I learned that there will be 5 American students (4 from Lander and one from another university), 1 Irish, and 10 English students in the program n Busan. One of my favorite parts of Spain was taking classes with people from other countries, and this is the thing I am looking forward to the most. Each of us will have a Korean "buddy" that will help us when we get there. We will help them with their English and they will definitely be helping us with our Korean. We also get to do a home-stay in our buddy's home one weekend. Most of the time we will be in a dorm room.

I'm flying out of GSP tomorrow and between flights, layovers, time change, and crossing the international date line, I am going to be so confused when I finally get to South Korea, so wish me luck ;)